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"Just keep smiling". It was my manager's favorite quote at my latest dead-end job. Happy Electronics, where the customer is always right... even Karen. It wasn't my first choice in employment, but with the holidays coming I needed some extra cash fast. In my parent's eyes I'd never be able to compete with my "successful" siblings and buy them a car, but maybe this year I can get them a gift card. Hell, maybe even a jelly of the month club subscription. Luckily, I wasn't the only smiling employee of the happiest store in New Hampshire. I had a few other colleagues to help collectively pass the time in the misery palace. My favorite, of course, was Abby. She helped train me when I first started and always had some sarcastic remark to brighten my day. It also helped that she was absolutely gorgeous, and my heart rate doubled every time we made eye contact. I’d been working up the courage to ask her out for weeks, but like most opportunities in my life I was probably going to let this one pass me by and go play Counter-Strike in my apartment for as long as it takes to forget about it. Then there was Kevin. Five-time employee of the month, Kevin. Each monthly portrait adorning the wall featuring the same stupid look and creepy grin. The guy had to be obsessed with the store, because he took our manager’s words to heart. He never stopped smiling. A lady literally screamed at him because one of the keys on her keyboard was sticking, and his face never moved a muscle. Needless to say, we avoided him like a plague and never invited him out for drinks after closing. This monotony continued for several weeks, each day more boring than the last. Then one night, our manager decided to treat himself to a short shift. That smarmy businessman practically ran out the door, front-flipped into his Volvo, and sped off into the night. Probably to go regale some poor girl with stories of his great success and his two-dollar cologne. This of course, left me to close up shop with Kevin. As Abby’s shift ended, she headed towards the door and waved goodbye to me. I waved too, while wrapping an invisible noose around my neck and strangling myself. She stifled one of her cute laughs and gave me a wink before closing the door behind her. The next hour passed by with the speed of a snail and about as much joy as eating one. I bid farewell to our last customer of the night, giving one final smile, before locking the front door. I spun around and was startled to find Kevin standing right behind me. “Jeez man,” I cried out, “don’t you knock or something?” I could tell he was just as taken a back. His face was more pale than usual. He had bags under his eyes, too, like he hadn’t slept in days. “Sorry,” he let out meekly, “I didn’t mean to surprise you. I was just wanted to let you know I’m gonna start cleaning up in the back room.” And with a flash of his grinning teeth he scooted off down the aisle. I sighed and headed towards the closet to grab the broom. After I finished sweeping, I headed to the back of the store to clock out. If I hurried maybe I could make it home in time to get a few games in with my buddies. After I moved out here away from my family, playing games online was basically the only contact I had with my friends. It was fine with me though, I finally had the solitude I always wanted. As I opened the door to the back room, Kevin was sitting at the table and greeted me with a smile. “Damn dude, the boss is gone. You can drop the smiling act already.” Without waiting for his response, I turned and started clocking out on the computer, a process I never looked forward towards. A fancy electronics chain and they’ve got us using a computer older than my niece. That was when I heard a muffled noise behind me. I glanced behind me and saw Kevin with his head in his hands. Shit, the dude was actually crying. “Hey man,” I said, immediately regretting my earlier comment, “I was just teasing you. You alright?” Kevin looked up at me from his hands, tears rolling down his face and into his grinning mouth. This guy had serious issues. “I’m sorry,” he said between sobs, “I don’t want to be like this. I just… I don’t have a choice.” “What do you mean?” I asked. “If you don’t like working here then just quit. Save yourself while you still can.” I met him with a half-hearted grin to try and ease the tension. “You don’t understand. He… he’s always watching” “Who, the boss? Hey, I know the guy’s a creep, and this is an electronics store, but it’s not like he’s sitting at home watching the security cameras.” “NO! Not him.” Kevin said with a cry. His gaunt face lowering toward his hands again. “The… the Laughing Man,” he whispered. A few seconds of silence passed. I didn’t know what to say. “The Laughing Man?” I finally let out. “Here, home, my bedroom. It doesn’t matter. He’s always there. He won’t leave me alone” “Hey, if someone’s stalking you, you should go to the police. They can-“ “Not someone!” he interrupted. “Some… thing. He’s always there. Staring at me. He just wants me to smile. I… I don’t know what he’ll do if I stop, but I can’t take much more of this,” he finished softly. I didn’t know what to say. It was like Kevin was having an emotional breakdown. I reached over and put my hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him. “Hey man, that sounds crazy. You should really see about getting some help. My brother knows some really good doctors who could- “ “You don’t believe me!?” he interrupted again. “Fine, I’ll show you.” Kevin reached his long fingers towards his face and pressed them against his cheeks, holding his mouth in a straight face. I could see him struggling to keep this expression. “Hey man, whatever is going on you need to try and relax. Is there someone I can call for you?” Suddenly I heard shuffling behind me. As I turned around, I found the noise was coming from behind the door. It continued, growing louder and closer. Kevin’s face became more contorted by the second, his hands trembling. The shuffling finally reached the door and stopped. A few seconds of silence went by, when suddenly the door handle started to slowly turn. Kevin let out a scream behind me and I turned to face him. He had released his face and was bearing an excruciating grin. The door handle had stopped turning. “What the fuck was that?” I yelled, but Kevin was inconsolable. I raced towards the door, my outstretched hand grabbing the door knob, and yanked it open to find… nothing. The store was barren and silent as a graveyard. As I looked around Kevin stood up behind me. He walked slowly towards me, still forcing a grin. “Look, I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have said anything. Please, let’s just forget this happened. It’s better that way.” I didn’t know what to say. Part of me was hoping this was just Abby or one of the guys playing a prank on me. “Go ahead and go home, I’ll finish locking up.” I slowly nodded and left the store. My hands were shaking as I drove back to my apartment. As I reached my door, I fumbled more times than I’d like to admit trying to put my key in the lock. Once inside, I locked the door and went straight to bed. Whatever that was that happened at work that night, I decided to confront Kevin about it in the morning. The only problem was Kevin didn’t show up for his shift. Thirty minutes past the start of Kevin’s shift, my manager walked by with less than a smile on his face. “I don’t care who that guy thinks he is,” he said frustratedly, “But he doesn’t get to no-call no-show on me.” He continued storming past me and slammed his office door. The boss man’s threats didn’t seem to phase Kevin though because he didn’t show up at all that day. Or the next. Or the next. I asked Abby if she or any of the guys had heard from him, but no one knew. It wasn’t until my manager heard from the authorities that we found out the truth. Kevin was dead. The funeral came quicker than I thought. We were all invited even though we barely knew the guy. After all, at Happy Electronics we’re all one happy family. It also seemed like we were Kevin’s only family. As far as I could tell, none of his family even showed up for his funeral. I knew because after the closed-casket affair I made a point to talk to as many people at the reception as I could. I had to know what happened to Kevin and if he had told anyone else about the Laughing Man. I got more than I bargained for when I introduced myself to a man standing outside the reception building, a cigarette smoked down to the filter still in his hand. He said his name was Brad. He’d gone to school with Kevin and they had still hung out from time to time until recent events. He also had the misfortune of being the one to find Kevin. “I’m sorry, man. I’m sure you guys were close. I didn’t mean to pry,” I said apologetically. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I just can’t believe someone would do that.” “Do what?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me. I wish I’d just kept my mouth shut. Brad gazed up at me from behind his next cigarette, his eyes evaluating me before he exhaled a cloud of smoke. “The police said it was a break in. A burglary gone wrong, but… no thief would do that.” He paused to take another drag from his cigarette. “They didn’t just strangle him, it was like someone mangled his face. All I see when I close my eyes is his face. It’s like he was fucking grinning at me, man.” My heart skipped a beat as he stopped speaking. This was all way too much to handle. The next few silent seconds felt like an eternity. “Did Kevin ever say anything to you about The… Laughing Man?” I asked, hesitantly. “The Laughing Man? What the fuck is that, some show on Netflix?” I gave him a weak smile. “No. Forget I said anything. I’m really sorry for your loss.” I said, and went back inside the reception hall to say my goodbyes. It was another long silent drive before I made it back to my apartment. I hopped online for a bit to try and cool my nerves. When it was finally late, I decided to turn in for the night. As I crawled into bed and turned off my lamp, I pulled the covers up and closed my eyes. After a few seconds that’s when I heard it. A soft chuckle. My eyes shot open as I looked around my room. The moonlight spilling in through my window offered the only light. As my eyes fell on my open closet that’s when I saw it. Teeth. Long and sharp. The light from the moon danced off of them as they formed a twisted grin. I closed my eyes, hoping this was a dream or I had just imagined it. As I opened my eyes, the teeth were still there and worse, moving towards me. As my vision grew clearer the teeth gave way to the rest of its face. Pale, rotten skin pulled taut in all the wrong places. Blood-shot eyes hovered above its mouth, unblinking. Never averting its gaze from me. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. I tried to move, but I was paralyzed with fear. It was all I could do to close my eyes and pray this nightmare would end. I could hear the sound of shuffling across the floor, the same noise I had heard in the store. I opened my eyes again to find this abomination towering over me. It let out another soft laugh, its sharp teeth glistening. As it reached towards me with one long gnarled, pale hand I did the only thing my addled mind could think of in that moment. I smiled. The creature’s eyes softened, as if a wave of understanding washed over its face. Its toothy grin stretched even wider than humanly possible and as I blinked… it was gone. The creature had completely vanished. Finally able to break my paralysis, I slammed the switch for my lamp, my eyes shooting around my around and sweat dripping from my forehead. As my heart rate began to lower I realized I was still smiling. I let my facial muscles relax and tried to catch my breath. That was when I heard it. A soft chuckle from outside my bedroom door. The shuffling noise began again, and a haunting realization overcame me. Oh my god, I have to keep smiling. My mouth stretched into a forced smile, and the noises outside my door immediately stopped. I didn’t know what to do. How could I smile in my sleep? An idea suddenly popped into my head and I raced towards the kitchen. Frantically, opening one of the drawers I found the packing tape I had procured from work. Pulling off two pieces of tape, I affixed them to my face. I looked in the bathroom mirror and sure enough, my mouth was pulled into a smile. I put it to the test and allowed my face to relax as much as it could. No noises. As I went back to bed it was several long hours of silence before I was finally able to sleep. It’s been three weeks since that night. Every day the same routine. Smiling all day long, and all night long with the help of packing tape. The nights are long and every once in a while I take a chance to dare not to smile, but like clockwork I always hear it. That damn laugh. It’s always there. He’s always watching. I’ve been so stressed I even missed Christmas with my family. They probably think I’m even more of a loser than they did before. The guys at work won’t hang out with me either. They think I’m some kind of freak trying to replace Kevin. Abby only talks to me when she has to, and I don’t blame her. Things aren’t all bad though. I made employee of the month for December. Just keep smiling. Category:Fanfic Category:Creepypasta